Another point of view on a tuner like the XC2 is that you can compensate for the gears... a good tune which would hopefully come with it, will make the car more fun to drive with better performance... and you can use it to datalog or check/clear codes... and you can use it more later on if you're adding serious mods.

Dealer cost is about $265, but they go for $400 or so, with a tune of course. It's important to get an e-mail copy of the .zcf file of the tune they give you... that way as you add mods later on, or if you get the SCT Pro Racer Package later, you don't have to start from scratch.

On the other hand... for the bang for your buck factor at this point, gears and exhaust makes more sense... tune will not likely increase your performance all that much, and can be a real pain to goof around with it, if it's a bit off.

I have the SCT XC2 with the PRP, and a Dynojet Wideband.